The election is only twelve days away and there is no shortage of drama, nowhere more so than in the Attorney General’s race.
Wednesday, Montgomery attorneys Julian McPhillips and Melissa Isaak announced that they are filing a complaint against Republican incumbent Steve Marshall with Montgomery County District Attorney Daryl Bailey.
The duo are alleging that AG Marshall has committed significant violations of state law. McPhillips and Isaak are requesting that their complaint be turned over to a grand jury for investigation.
They will file their complaint today and are holding a news conference this afternoon at McPhillips law offices in Montgomery where they will discuss and reveal the complaint they have filed against Marshall.
Steve Marshall was a long time district attorney in Marshall County. In 2017 then Governor Robert Bentley (R) appointed AG Luther Strange (R) to fill Jeff Sessions’ U.S. Senate seat, Bentley appointed Marshall to replace Strange as AG in February 2017.
Even though Marshall was never actually elected AG, the Republican Attorney Generals Association (RAGA) embraced him as on of their incumbents, unleashing massive financial support to help Marshall defeat his Republican primary opponents. His opponents claim that those RAGA funds are tainted and illicit because RAGA takes money from other political actions committees (PACs). This they claim is a violation of Alabama’s 2010 PAC to PAC transfer ban law. Marshall denies this and has rejected calls for him to return the money. The matter has been referred to the Alabama Ethics Commission. They are unlikely to address the RAGA issue before the general election. Marshall’s wife committed suicide in her Tennessee apartment during the GOP primary runoff campaign.
Julian McPhillips is a prominent attorney in the Montgomery area. He is best known in the political world for his campaign for U.S. Senate in 2002. He lost the Democratic Party nomination to Susan Parker in a surprise upset. Parker went on to lose to incumbent Jeff Sessions (R) 58.6 percent to 39.8 percent in the general election.
Melissa Isaak is a prominent divorce attorney; best known in the political world for representing Judge Roy Moore in his litigation against his sex abuse accusers.
The Alabama Political Reporter does not know if the complaint is related to the RAGA funds or something else.
Marshall faces Joseph “Joe” Siegelman (D) in the November 6 general election. Siegelman is the son of former Governor Don Siegelman.
